Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a meeting with Russian athletes and team members, who will take part in the upcoming 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games, at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia January 31, 2018. (Xinhua/REUTERS)
WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Department of the Treasury on Thursday confirmed that there will be more sanctions against Russian personnel and entities that come out of the so-called "Kremlin list."
The department on Monday published a list of Russian officials and business leaders eligible for sanctions for their alleged meddling in the U.S. presidential elections.
Yet the list was reportedly "copied" from the Forbes' 2017 list of the World's Billionaires and bore stunning similarity with the officials name list on the English website of the Russian government.
"Treasury submitted an unclassified version of this report together with classified annexes," Tony Sayegh, assistant secretary for public affairs, said in an announcement. "The unclassified report was derived from open source materials which include websites, government documents, public records, and news stories among other items. The classified version was derived from classified sources and methods."
The department added that the classified annex was included to "avoid potential asset flight from the named individuals and entities, as well as to prevent disclosure of sensitive information."
"Treasury is utilizing this information to inform future targeted sanctions," Sayegh said. "We hope this clarification will lead to more responsible reporting and discussion."
Despite wide questioning of the list's credibility and operability, the Treasury Department noted that "while this extensive report was not a sanctions list ... Treasury is using this report to inform future targeted sanctions, and there will be sanctions that come out of this."
Russia has responded strongly to the list as President Vladimir Putin said that the list is an unfriendly gesture and would undermine the nation's relations with the United States in the long run.